God's Patience

Has God ever lost His patience? There are those who would say “No” in their attempt to keep intact the image of the ever loving, ever compassionate Deity. Granted, the times we think of first as a time when God might have lost his patience with the people of Israel were really just attempts to influence them back into his loving and compassionate arms. There is nothing like a taste of reality to remind us just how good we have it in our little, protected lives.

However, there is a time I think of when, if it is indeed possible for God to lose His patience, God may have lost patience with an individual. Yahweh wanted to demonstrate His gracious, powerful, and compassionate nature to King Ahaz. You see, King Ahaz was worried. Two nations, Aram and Israel, much stronger than the kingdom of Judah had declared war against his tiny country. Their desire was to destroy Judah and divide it between themselves. The very announcement of war sent Ahaz’s knees knocking and his spirit into a freefall of depression.

Yahweh responded by sending Isaiah to King Ahaz with words of encouragement, but it seemed to do little good. Yahweh sought to strengthen the faith of Ahaz and told him, “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or the highest heights” (Isaiah 7:10). Ahaz was told, “Ask for anything because nothing is too great for the LORD your God. As surely as I can perform any task you could possibly assign, I can protect you from these two kingdoms!”

Ahaz, in a moment of self-righteousness, proclaimed, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test.” God gave Ahaz an opportunity that many of us wished we had, a chance to ask God for absolutely anything! Ahaz, whose faith was teetering, could have put God to the test. In fact, God even ASKED Ahaz to test Him. Ahaz is basically telling God a HUGE lie, “I have no need to test you. I do not doubt. I am righteous and holy.”

That’s when God lost it! HEAR NOW, YOU HOUSE OF DAVID! IS IT NOT ENOUGH TO TRY THE PATIENCE OF MEN? WILL YOU TRY THE PATIENCE OF GOD AS WELL? Sometimes our self-righteousness gets in the way of the possibility to witness a tremendous event God wishes to do in our lives. Yahweh proceeds to put an impossible task upon Himself, a task which no one could do, a task beyond human comprehension, a task that has become one of my favorite advent passages. The Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin shall be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel, meaning: God with us. It must be noted that the “you” of the passage is plural in the Hebrew. The sign is not just for Ahaz! The sign is for you and me as well. Yahweh says, “Do you need proof that I care for you? Do you need to know that I watch over you? Do you need confirmation that I love you? Would you like to know that you are the most important thing in all of my creation? Do you want to realize that when you seek me with all your being, I will guarantee that you will find me?” Well, be anxious no more my friend, for God Himself has come down to assure you of your place with Himself. The Virgin has given birth. Immanuel is realized. Christ has been born.


Pastor Craig